Windmills that feature in the landscapes painted by the Dutch old masters are a reminder that the low-landers of this nation are past masters at keeping the tide at bay.

Along with dykes, the first of which were built about 1,000 years ago, drainage mills have been effective at keeping water out of a land where 60% of its inhabitants live below sea level.

But new ways of dealing with water need to be found as climate change brings with it heavier rains and rising tides, said Arnoud Molenaar, manager of the Rotterdam climate-proof programme.

Rotterdam is the Netherlands' second-biggest city, located in a delta of the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Around 90% of it is below sea level, making it particularly vulnerable.

"We've always invested in prevention, wanting to keep the water out, but now we are trying to find solutions to live with the water. Keeping on with traditional techniques like raising the dykes is coming to an end because it's not possible to raise them higher and higher," said Molenaar, an adviser to mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb.

Although rightwing Dutch politicians question the reality of climate change, Rotterdam is facing increasingly frequent small-scale flooding. The key to coming up with politically palatable solutions, said Molenaar, is to present them as "opportunities".

That means devising double-purpose measures, including:

• A parking garage built last year that incorporates a 10,000 cubic metre underground rainwater store. Expensive underground structures aren't generally favoured in the flood-prone city but several million euros were saved by combining the car park and water store;

• "Water plazas" that under normal conditions are playgrounds but that temporarily hold water during heavy rain, then slowly release it to the drainage system;

• An Olympic rowing course that doubles as a water store;

• Rooftop gardens that absorb rain and CO2 and reduce the urban island temperature effect, being built at a rate of 40,000 square metres a year with a 50% subsidy;

• Premium-priced floating communities on waterside sites vacated as facilities of Europe's biggest port are moved nearer the coast.

The climate-proofing effort, that is costing about €100m, is mapped out in a long-term plan called Rotterdam Water City 2035, sometimes referred to as the city's "wet dream", said Molenaar.

It's a dream that other river cities are able to share. Rotterdam-based Connecting Delta Cities (CDC), an offshoot of the C40 climate leadership group backed by a charity of former US president Bill Clinton, has been set up for cities such as London, New York and Tokyo to swap notes on water management and climate adaptation.

Molenaar said they were also mindful of the economic spin-offs as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank begin to pour "billions of euros" into making vulnerable low-lying delta cities climate-proof.